I made a statement that Gates probably won't be back for a while because he went on Fox and made sense. YOU are the one who dug up his book and then pretended to not know what he said yesterday. So obviously what he said pissed you off to some extent.

What I'm trying to say is that I think every station would occasionally cover something well by accident every once in a while.

Cable news is a relentless exercise in finger pointing and chest pounding.

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I looked up what he said after reading your post.. I try to be informed about things I respond to.

And Gates comments in his book directly contradict what he said on Fox yesterday. His comments made no sense in light of his recent book.

Robert Gates comments yesterday call into question his recent criticisms of the POTUS in his book. They call into question his fairness and sense of justice.

Surely you see this.

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Can I assume that you've been listening to Katy Perry, Lorde and Kesha all year?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

What is really the point of this argument? Gates has offered praise and criticisms of both past administrations. Why the pointless "Gotcha" game?

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I have it up so loud it broke the sensor on your sarcasm detector.

So you don't watch Fox News then?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Well publicized comments by Gates that Seacrest pretended he didn't know about now to you becomes a discussion of my TV viewing habits. That's a little obsessive and creepy.

I was just wondering why you watched his commentary... or did you read it? Just trying to understand what happened.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Hey, Lorde doesn't belong with those two!

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http://warontherocks.com/2014/03/losing-our-marbles-as-putin-loses-at-chess-the-cold-war-is-over/

(excerpt)

... Surely, there is much to criticize in this administration’s foreign policy, but those who would believe that Putin’s chess move into Crimea is the work of a master would be better off sticking to a simple game like marbles.

Putin’s aggression in Crimea is certainly alarming. All the more so when you consider the contempt he must hold for the rest of the world to keep up the thuggish charade of denial. Yet, keeping with the metaphor of chess, we cannot judge a move in isolation. We have to understand the whole board, and in doing so it is clear that Putin’s position is becoming worse by the day, his territory of influence is shrinking, and most of his pieces have been struck from the board. The West has made it all the way to his back rank, with people power turning Warsaw Pact pawns into western queens that are now being used against their former master.

A little over two decades ago, the Soviet Union was nestled behind a row of pawns that extended into the heart of Europe. It held sway over dozens of client states throughout the world. Today, NATO and the EU extend to the very border of Russia itself.

...

Putin’s seizure of Crimea is a sign of weakness, not strength.

For a host of bad reasons, from the naval base at Tartus to the historic relationship with Syria, to the constant goal of acting as a foil to Europe and the U.S., Putin is compelled to carry water for the lisping sociopath Bashar al Assad, defending him against near-universal approbation in the international community. It is one thing to debase oneself for naked interest. That, perhaps, could be called a chess strategy. It is another thing altogether to keep defending that space when the rook has been taken. This is not winning at chess. Neither is Putin’s desperate move in Crimea.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

What is "I'm warning you"?

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

It's going to be pretty hard for the European countries who constantly harp on Israel to say anything else about the situation now. Israel at least has a plausible claim for the territory it currently occupies. Russia literally has stolen part of another country, again.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Many years ago it used to be their land?

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

That would be a terrible precedent to set. Russia once owned Alaska. They chose to give it up.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Besides that, if that's the framework we want to use, the Jews have a better claim to "Palestine" than anyone.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

got in an argument with my father in law over this over the weekend. He's a well informed man but his analysis of the facts he has gained always leaves me puzzled...fucker also gave my kid meat on Friday knowing full well it was Lent because he simply could not overcome the competing interest of eating my free food

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Russian troops now feet dry in Ukraine proper. That didn't take long.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

http://www.reddit.com/live/3rgnbke2rai6hen7ciytwcxadi

Interesting to keep an eye on in the present .... would be even more interesting to review in a year, five, ten, twenty five.

Consider how we might differently interpret any number of world-level events (WWII, 9-11, the first Iraq war, Vietnam War, Watergate) had there been something like this to read then, as well as go back and review now.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

I argued with him again about it this weekend. He's proven to be more wrong with every passing day.

Next time he starts with this I'm just going to throw down that the English have a right to all of Ireland because they had occupied it for so long and raped so many that the people should be considered English

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Russia can go fuck itself. I would greatly appreciate if Western Europe and USA could stop being pansies and send Russia into 3rd world status.

Chicago Tough

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Russian weather = Bear weather

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

I deserved that.

Both my pair of grandparents are Ukrainian and survived fucked up shit. So I'm very biased. And yes, not every Russian is a bad guy. But I would take great pleasure in their country imploding due to their hubris.

Well the Soviet Union kind of did. This is like a piss ant PITA compared to that. The only thing that keeps Russia a player is the UN and the G8 crap. Their economy and trade blows. They have nothing but some oligarchs and a veto (lord knows why still) on the UN security council. Their military equipment and soldiers are a laughingstock.

Sure nukes but no one will use them.

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Elections have consequences.

I'm not up on the operation of the UN (except they like to send out military places), is there something preventing the SC from giving Russia the finger and going "you don't get a veto anymore until you knock this shit off"?

Yeah, I think the answer, honestly, is that the UN is completely impotent and useless.
What good does an alliance do if everyone on all sides is involved?

The answer to this problem would be get the US out of the UN. Go NATO all the way. We're mired in contradictory alliances.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

UN isn't good for much, although it is a great place for the dictators and despots of the world to throw some weight around and get cover from the handlers. The Security Council is useless and just an extension of rubber stamping or global grudges.

I agree with DarkSlide, NATO all the way. But the tricky part is getting all members to maintain the ~2.0% of GDP for military spending.

Ok. I full agree. I just didn't know if there was anything in the UN charter that prevented that.